Sunday, April 15, 2012

A complex subject for sure – but interesting. We see
one of the great cultures of antiquity in its death throes and, simultaneously,
one of the world’s great religions becoming established inside it. As interesting as the subject matter is, however, we find
the study of early Christianity fraught with problems, including a
lack of original sources, bias on the part of Christians for their cause, bias
against them by their enemies, and changes within the church’s perception of
itself and its mission.

In the beginning nothing was written down because the
life of Jesus was viewed as an apocalyptic event by his followers. The travels
of Paul began the real history when he wrote to the congregations he had
established throughout the near east. Paul's life became the center of the debate between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians about the intentions of Jesus.

For this post, as the introduction to Christianity in
the time of the empire, I created a reference frame for further
discussions. That reference frame is in the form of a chronology -- a set of milestones
in early Christian history related to the Roman emperor in power at the time of
the event. This timeline is not exhaustive because there is no way to provide a
complete picture in such a small space. It is intended only to provide a sense
of the forces at work during the time when the Christian church was becoming
established.

Before we discuss the timeline, however, I think it’s
important to define my position on the subject matter to be presented here. The
reader must understand that I am approaching this subject strictly from a
historian’s standpoint, separated from my own religious beliefs. All facts
included in this and future discussions are true in my judgment, based on the sources
I have consulted. For example, I believe Paul’s travels and his letters are factual
historical events. But there are difficulties when we approach the early
Christian writers, such as Eusebius, because the zeal they express for their
beliefs blurs the history and forces us to apply a filter. What you will read
are the facts that made it through the filter.

Emperor

Year

Christian event

Caligula (37-41)

37-40

Paul In Damascus

Claudius (41-54)

Nero (54-69)

60?

Gospel Mark written

65

Peter and Paul martyred

Vespasian (69-79)

70

Jewish Revolt

70?

Gospel Matthew/Luke written

Domitian (81-96)

Pope Clement(88-97) writes to Corinth

Trajan (98-117)

95?

Gospel of John written

108

Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch martyred

Hadrian (117-138)

132

Jewish Revolt, Jerusalem destroyed

Antonius Pius (138-161)

150

Bishopic system in place

150

Valentinius(Gnostic)

Marcus Aurelius (161-180)

165

Justin Martyr (100-165)

177

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (140-202?)

Tertullian (160-225)

Septimius Severus dies

211

Break in Persecutions

Philip (244-249)

Pro-Christian

Decius (249-251)

250

Renewed persecutions

250

Origen (185-253) attack on pagan thought

Valerian (253-260)

258

Massacre of priests and deacons

Diocletian (284-305)

303

Diocletian persecution

Constantine (306-337)

325

First Council of Nicea

326

First St. Peter's basilica consecrated

337

Constantine dies

Eusebius (260-341) History of the church

Julian (360-363)

360

Re-institute Pagan gods

Valentinian (364-375)

364

Council of Laodicea (rest on the sabbath)

374

Ambrose (340-397)

Theodosius (379-395)

380

Theodosius I baptized

382

Catholic council of Rome sets Biblical canon

385

Pricillian executed as a heretic

391

Outlaws pagan rituals

Honorius (393-423)

420

Jerome (340-420) and the vulgate

Valentinian III (424-455)

430

Augustine (354-430)

451

Pope Leo (440-461) negotiated with

Attila

The above chronology highlights the time sequence of six major threads that stretch through the period:

1. Christians struggle to define themselves

2. Christian apologists and their efforts to defend what they had created

3. Gentile Christian attacks on Jewish Christians during their period of rivalry.

4. Christian attacks on paganism, directed against the Greeks as rivals

5. The creation of Catholic dogma and attacks against heretics

6. Persecutions by the Romans

Most persecutions occurred prior to the reign of Constantine, who changed the course of Christianity by legitimizing it and protecting it from attack. The first persecutions were derived from disgust and misunderstanding of the Christians (they drink blood). Later ones were derived from the political threats perceived by the Romans when Christians refused to obey Roman law. Also embedded in the early period was a hysterical desire for martyrdom which saw many Christians actively seeking death in imitation of their savior.

The first few entries on the chronology show the initial period when Christianity was established. Its rapid expansion was a result of Paul’s work and the inherent attractiveness of the religion. The reference to Pope Clement shows how early the Bishop of Rome was communicating to his people and instructing them.

Major figures in the early church are bolded beginning with St. Ignatius.

In the year 132 A.D, Jerusalem was leveled by Hadrian, ending any significance it may have had as the home base of Christianity. Most Jewish Christians had, in fact, died in the 70 A.D. revolt when Jerusalem was sacked and burned.

By 150 A.D. we have evidence at the Bishopic system is in place and functioning. There are bishops in Rome, Corinth, Antioch, Damascus, and Alexandria among others. That same year saw the Gnostic theologian, Valentinius, active. The Gnostic sect was one of the most troublesome Christian splinter groups.

In the year 177 A.D. we note Irenaeus as the Bishop of Lyon. I find this interesting because it shows how early the “barbarian” territories had been converted. This is also the time of Tertullian who along with Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus, were important early theologians – on the defense as apologists and on the attack against the Jews, pagans, and heretics.

With the death of Septimius Severus in 211 A.D. there was a pause in the persecution of Christians that lasted for 38 years. Then, during the time of renewed persecutions under Decius, Origen was attacking pagan thought and philosophy as an important Christian apologist.

The period from 284-324 A.D. saw the storms of Diocletian give way to the sunny days of Constantine who embraced Christianity from an early age and protected it with all of his might. As the founder of Constantinople, he created a base for the eastern empire and the future Eastern Orthodox Church.

Eusebius was a prominent theologian in the period after Constantine’s death who wrote The History of the Church. He was Bishop of Caesarea, a town located on the coastline of northern Israel.

You can read the rest of the chronology for yourself. As you scan the entire list, try to get a sense of the time and place of the forces at work. Christianity saw some 260 years of growth before its acceptance, followed by another 150 years when it was embraced and became strong enough to outlast the empire. During the early period, the church built an administrative apparatus that rivaled or exceeded that of Rome – the same apparatus that is still in operation today.

Some missing landmarks in the Historic Timeline Table: (1) Year 313: Legalization of Christianity by the Edict of Milan . (2) Year 337: Constantine [is baptised and] dies . (3) Year 380: Christianity promulgated the official Religion of the Empire by the Edict of Thessalonica.

Unclear statement in the list entitled: The Six major historical threads of the period: 2. Christian apologists and their efforts to defend what they had created ..... Here is my question: What did they create? Did you mean write? defend? or teach?

Unclear / incomplete sentence to be corrected by adding a missing word [in brackets]:The first persecutions were derived from disgust and misunderstanding of the Christians (they drink blood). Later ones were derived[ from ]the political threats perceived by the Romans when Christians refused to obey Roman law.

1 missing example to add [in brackets]: Also embedded in the early period was a hysterical desire for martyrdom which saw many Christians actively seeking death in imitation of their savior[, as described in the 2nd century writing The Martyrdom of Polycarp ].

TWO imprecisions to amend by adding words [in brackets]: (1) (in the Chronological Timeline) Major figures in the early church are bolded, beginning with St. Ignatius [of Antioch]. (NOT of Loyola) ... (2) In the year 132 A.D, Jerusalem was leveled by Hadrian, ending any significance it may have had as the home base of Christianity. Most Jewish Christians had, in fact, [either] died [or suffered exile or were deported] in the 70 A.D. revolt when Jerusalem was sacked and burned.

"The first persecutions were derived from disgust and misunderstanding of the Christians (they drink blood)."

Yes, I agree here. It brings up connotations of a "Thyestean feast". You only have to look at the bacchanalian incident to see how Romans reacted to things they regarded as strange and foreign.

"Later ones were derived from the political threats perceived by the Romans when Christians refused to obey Roman law"

But don't you think it was more then that? They were an affront to the social and religious world of the Romans. They obstinately refused to reciprocate and participate in the religious institutions of the empire that left them open to confrontation they might otherwise avoided (see the Christians trials by Pliny the Younger as an example).

I think there is a strong link between Roman religion and the conflict with Christianity which is more than just political. Although, there is a strong correlation between religion and politics for the Romans anyway.

As for political, I agree with your point. Tertullian had referred to themselves as a 'state within a state' and Dionysus stated that he 'would obey God before man'. It kind of reminds me of the proverb that a man can only server one master.

Amendment to a previous comment: In the year 132 A.D, Jerusalem was leveled by Hadrian, ending any significance it may have had as the home base of Christianity. Most Jewish Christians had, in fact, [either] died [or suffered exile or were deported as slaves] in the 70 A.D. revolt when Jerusalem was sacked and burned[, while most regions of Palestina suffered of the scortched earth policy, to make sure the remaining Jews would not attempt to return anymore].

I post again a request for clarification about what you wrote in Part I : "2. Christian apologists and their efforts to defend what they had created" But what did they create? (1) If you are talking about the Canon of the Scriptures, then the proper term to use is: compiled, because the Canon of Scriptures is a compilation list of writings that already existed and had been in circulation for nearly 100 years. (2) If you are talking about the Christian faith, then they invented nothing! They were simply attempting to find convincing arguments to defend the faith that was transmitted/passed on to them from the several generations past.(3) If you are talking about another topic, I do not see what you are talking about.

Regarding the use of the term "created" with reference to Christian apologists. My point is with some exceptions Christianity is not the religion of Jesus, so Christianity a creation of those who came after.

Jesus preached the apocalyptic arrival of the kingdom of God during his lifetime and the need to repent in order to be accepted into that kingdom.

Christianity is the worship of Jesus as the resurrected son of God and savior of the world.

Mr. Anderson,Thanks for your reply. To clarify your choice of words, you wrote back to me, saying:

"Regarding the use of the term "created" with reference to Christian apologists. * My point is[,] with some exceptions[,] Christianity is not the religion of Jesus, * so Christianity [is] a creation of those who came after."

I must insist to point out the need for a significant correction in this text, since a huge anachronism has slipped in. Let me clarify:

Fact #1:Yes, Jesus was not the founder of a new religion, but of a new Judaic movement, based on Freedom and Love:* Freedom from religious bondage, * Freedom of access to a life of Intimacy with God, * Undiscriminatory Compassion and Love for All, even for our enemies.This was, in essence, the fundamentals of his teachings, the internal aspect, the intrinsic nature of his movement, which we can sift from the Gospels's narratives, as we put aside the temporal components of Jesus's messianic identity and political objectives.

Fact #2:The Christian apologists of the 2nd & 3rd centuries A.D. did not create anything, except for new creative argumentations often based on Greek Philosophy and Logic, to defend the Faith transmitted to them by the previous generation(s) of Jewish and Gentile Christians before them.

Fact #3:It is around the year 43, nearly 10 years after Jesus's crucifiction, that for the first time, in Antioch, the members of the Jesus Movement were called "Christians" (Acts 11:26). At first intended to be a simple nickname given by the surrounding populace, meaning slaves of a christ. But it was eventually adopted by the disciples themselves as describing well who they were, as followers of the Christ, to whom they wished to be compared.In his epistle, James talks about those "who scorn the worthy name that was called upon you"

Fact #4:The only ones that we can consider responsible to create a new religion, are the apostles themselves, among which the Rabbi Saul of Tarsus (who later on was renamed Paul the Apostle), was the most influential, as he was the author of 2/3 of the New Testament. HE is the one who codified and legislated about every aspect of personal life and church government and laid out the foundation which allowed to the new Jewish movement to morph into a new religion adapted for the Gentiles, destined to eventually conquer the hearts and minds of the whole Empire of Rome.

Tracing back religion has been the most difficult part for historians. If only tracing it back would be as easy as reconstructing the Roman historical sites, there would be no debates. Nevertheless, a great intellectual exercise not just for the participants but also for the readers.